Home Page Wetsuit Thickness Guide Updated on: 14th June 2010
Wetsuit Thickness Guide - A Guide on how to choose the right thickness for your wetsuit to suit your Scuba and snorkeling needs
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When looking to buy a wetsuit, the first thing that comes to mind is what kind of wetsuit thickness should I go for? We all would like to feel comfortable wearing our wetsuits. It’s a fact that the thicker the wetsuit, the less maneuverability you will have. However you will definitely feel comfortably warm in colder waters. On the other hand, Thinner wetsuits are more comfortable when it comes to maneuvering underwater but do not do a great job in keeping you warm in cold waters. These are trade offs which you will have to consider. It all boils down to the type of scuba activity you will be conducting and the area in which you will be frequently diving in. At the end of the day, what ever type of wetsuit you choose, you will want to find the right wetsuit thickness to keep you comfortably warm during your scuba diving activities. Now let us take a look at the factors which determine our choice for wetsuit thickness.
Water temperatureBefore buying a wetsuit, the first thing you have to determine is where you will be diving in. Will you be diving in cold or tropical waters? This is a no brainer, the colder the water temperature, the thicker the wetsuit you will need. If you have read our article on wetsuits and how they are constructed you will know that neoprene acts as an insulator against the elements and the thicker it is the more insulation you will have. If you are diving in cold waters, wearing the wetsuit is just not enough to protect yourself against the elements. You have to understand that much of your body heat escapes through your body’s extremities. Adding a wetsuit hood, appropriate booties and gloves will provide you with added thermal protection by keeping you comfortably warmer. On the other hand, if you will be frequently diving in tropical waters then you may want to consider using a much thinner suit. Besides being unbearable to wear in hot conditions, a thick wetsuit will definitely give you an unpleasant dive if you diving in warmer waters.
Planned maximum depth and amount of time spent in the water.The longer your expose yourself in the water, the cooler your body will become. You have to remember that the water temperatures drop the deeper you go and as a result the gas bubbles in the neoprene will be compressed, therefore making your wetsuit more thinner the deeper you dive. If you are the sort of diver that frequently dives below 30 meters and spends long periods of time being stationary underwater due to deco stops, then you will definitely need a thicker wetsuit to keep you warm. Another requisite for having a thicker wetsuit is if you intend on planning several dives in one day. The more dives you do, the colder you will become. If you are diving every day, you will feel colder on each successive day. You will therefore require a thicker wetsuit than that you would need for a single day of diving.
Cold sensitivityEvery diver knows his chill tolerance limit and each diver has his/her own individual comfort level. What is "cold" to someone, may be "just slightly cool" to another. We all differ in our physics and blood circulation. Smaller persons like women and especially children normally tend to feel colder more rapidly. When buying your wetsuit, you have to first ask yourself if you are the sort of person that gets cold very quickly. If you are then you may have to consider choosing a thicker wetsuit than you mates.
Other ConsiderationsThere are other factors which determine in how good a suit is at keeping you comfortably warm underwater. The first and foremost is size and fit. I suggest you read out guide on wetsuit size to learn why a perfect fit is important when choosing to buy a new or used wetsuit. The quality of construction of your scuba wetsuit is an important factor in effectively keeping you warm. Read out guide on buying a new wetsuit to learn more on how to choose a good quality wetsuit.
Interpreting wetsuit thickness numbersSo what do all these numbers mean? Well it’s simple. These wetsuit numbers represent the thickness in millimeters of the neoprene used in the wetsuit. With some wetsuits, you may have two different neoprene thicknesses to make them more flexible. The main part which requires particularly more thickness is your chest area whilst other parts of your body which are constantly in motion like your feet and arms will require more flexibility so they may be thinner in neoprene thickness. For this reason you may find for instance a 5/3 wetsuit. This basically means that you have a 5mm chest area and a 3 mm for your body’s extremities.
So what type of wetsuit thickness should you go for?There are so many factors which you have to consider as explained above. For example, if you normally dive in waters which vary in water temperature according to the seasons, then you may want to consider going for a wetsuit combo. This is the type of wetsuit can be easily adapted to the environment in which you will be diving. I for myself chose a 5/3 wetsuit combo as I found it ideal to use in a wide range of water temperature. What you get is a 5mm full suit which you can use separately in moderate temperatures and a 3 mm shortie which you can use in warmer waters. If you are going to dive in lets say temperatures below 65˚F /18˚C, then you can wear both the full suit and the shortie which will then give you a total of 8mm of wetsuit thickness. However here at scuba snorkeling adventures we have come up with a wetsuit thickness chart to assist you in determining the type of wetsuit thickness which may mostly suit your needs
Wetsuit thickness ChartsThe following chart should serve as a general guideline to wetsuit thickness comfort zones:
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Buying a Wetsuit / Wetsuit size chart / Wetsuit Thickness Guide / Tips on wearing a wetsuit / Dry Suit Tips
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